[t'vengadam] Sri Vilakkoli Perumal, Thoopul/ThirutthaNkA dhivya Desam: Nithya AarAdhana kaimkaryam for VilakkoLi PerumAL and Swamy Desikan : Part XIV: Eleventh SlOkam

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Today , adiyEn will cover the Elevnth slOkam

of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan

pays tribute to the Lord ViLakkoLi PerumAL

in the context of the three tatthvams:

" BhOgyam , BhOkthA , PrEritha " .

 

BhOgyam Mukundha guNa-bhEdham achEthanEshu

bhOgthruthvam aathmani nivEsya nijEcchayaiva

paanchAlikA suka vibhUshaNa bhOgadhAyee

SamrADiva Aathma samayA saha mOdhasE Thvam

 

--SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 11

 

(Meaning): Oh DhIpa PrakAsa PrabhO! You have created

the three guNams (Satthva-Rajas-Tamas) in insentient

objects and have made it possible for the chEthanams

to enjoy them as bhOgyam. The " enjoying " jeevan

is the BhOkthA , who enjoys the BhOgyam. You stay

as the One , who commands this anubhavam of Jeevan

as PrErithA .The achEthanmas ( insentients) like

fruit et al are for the enjoyment of the chEthanan

(sentients).This arrangement or niyathi has been made

possible because of Your sankalpam. You consider

the creation of the ChEthanams and achEthanams

as part of Your sport (leelai). A king of this world

decorates a doll with jewelery to derive pleasure

from seeing that doll in the decorated state.

The doll is still a jada vasthu. In a similar

vein of enjoyemnt , the king raises a parrot

and feeds it with milk and fruits for its nourishment.

The king takes great joy in the sport of decorating

the inanimate doll and the animate parrot . He shares

these pleasures with his queen. Oh Lord of ThirutthaNkA !

You derive such a pleasure by watching the activities

(seyalkaL ) of the sentient and insentients-- the objects

of Your creation-- with Your PirAtti Maragatha Valli ,

who is equal to You in every aspect.

 

Additional Comments on the first two paadhams of this slOkam:

**************************************************************

Swamy Desikan addresses the Lord of ThirutthaNkA here

as " Mukundhan " . He reminds us that He is the Moksha-

Dhaayakan or the grantor of Moksham for the chEthanams .

He is the PrErithA , Niyanthru (Commander )of ChEthanams

and achEthanams. What sports does he engage in ? He creates

guna bhEdham among achEthanam ( guNa bhEddham achEthanEshu).

The guNa bhEdhams(differentaitions among GuNams) are

caused by different admixture of Satthva-Rajas and

TamO GuNams in prakruthi.

 

What sports does He engage with Jeevans? " Aathmani

BhOktruthvam " is what He chooses as His sport with

the jeevAthmAs. He creates the capacity to enjoy

in the jeevans , who become bhOkthAs of the bhOgyam

of achEthanam. He does this through His own sankalpam

(Icchai or wish ) in His role as the PrErithA " .

 

Isvaran is the PrakAri ( " substance " ) and the Jiva-jagath

(chEthana-achethanams) are the prakaaraas or modes.

The mode (prakArA) of a substance is ONLY a projection

of " the substance " and can not have any independent

existence apart from " the substance " ( PrakAri).

The prakArAs (modes ) are manifested in the state of

Srushti and are present in a latent state during

the praLyam . In both states (Srushti and PraLayam ) ,

the Jiva-Jagath are distinct from the whole and this

relationship is described as " aprathak-siddhi "

( pirikka mudiyAtha uRavu between chith-achith

and Isvaran).Swamy Desikan pays tribute here to

this aprathak siddhi , the Body-Soul realtion

of the Universe (ChEthanams and achEthanams), with

Isvaran . This SarIra-SarIrI relationship is

the central doctrine of VisishtAdhvaitham.

 

Additional comments on the last two lines of this slOkam:

**********************************************************

Swamy Desikan hails the Lord DhIpa PrakAsan as " SaamrAD Thvam "

(Thou art the Chakravarhty!). You enjoy Your sports in

the company of Your Divine Consort , Sri Maragatha Valli,

who is equal to You in all respects. You are BhagavAn

with the six pradhAna guNams and She is Bhagavathi with

identical (matching ) guNams . You enjoy these sports

with Your Dhivya Mahishi , who has auspicious attributes

that match Yours in every way ( " Bhagavan NaarAyaNa

abhimathAnuroopa Svaroopa-Roopa-GuNa-Vibhavaisvarya--

asankhEyaya kalyANa guNa-gaNAm BhagavathIm " ).The passage

quoted above is from SrI SaraNAgathi Gadhyam of

AchArya RaamAnujA . This gadhyam is recognized as

the elaboration of Dhvaya manthram . Hence one can

also identify this slOkam with dhvya manthram.

 

This joint enjoyment of the sport of the Lord by

His Divine consort is described by Swamy Desikan

this way: " Thvam Aathma samayA Saha mOdhasE " .

To comprehend fully the MahA lakshmi Tatthvam in

this context and to gain a better understanding of

Her Roopa-anroopa guNams, we have to study the slOkams

of ParAsara Bahttar's SrI GuNa Rathna KOsam .

 

Sri Maragathavalli SamEtha Sri DhIpa PrakAsa ParabhramaNE Nama:

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SaThakOpan(Sadagopan)

 

P.S: adiYen continues to appeal to you all

to support the NithyArAdhana Kaimkaryam at ThUppul,

the avathAra Sthalam of our beloved AchAryan ,

Swamy VedAntha Desikan. Please contact me about

status of the Kaimkaryam and details on how you

can support this once-in-a-life time Kaimakryam

to our ThUppul Desikan , the avathAram of the Bell

of ThirVEnkatamudayAn.